Antigua land sale offers a little slice of paradise — at a hefty price

The Life: You would hope $1.5 million to $6 million would buy you more than a few trees. But then again they are on a plot on a peninsula in the middle of the Caribbean.

Various plots at the 180-acre Pearns Point are up for sale. Courtesy Luxury Locations

Usually on Fridays we feature in this space a big house that costs a lot of money. Sometimes, like last week, it even comes with extras - in that case 1,000 cows.

But this week's property ticket is rather different.

Sure, you will still need a lot of money, from US$1.5 million (Dh5.5m) to $6m, but all it will buy you is a lot of trees - and a large space to build a big house.

But there are many plots to choose from, 59 to be precise, which range from 35,000 square feet up to 100,000 sq ft.

And the best part is they are on an undeveloped peninsula in Antigua, which is surrounded by the clear, turquoise-coloured waters of the Caribbean Sea.

"Pearns Point is about 180 acres in total, but the land for sale is 140 or 141 acres," says Sam Dyson, a director of Luxury Locations magazine, which is marketing the plots jointly with Savills.

The remaining area is earmarked for a five-star resort. The developers, two Dutch nationals who own the island, are in final talks with a hotelier to select the brand, which could be a St Regis, Hilton or Hyatt, according to Mr Dyson. The development has just been announced, but six plots already have reservations on them.

A large proportion of these are on the beach - and a number of plots even have two beaches.

"The frontage can be up to 80 metres so they are very, very big in comparison to most of the property around here," Mr Dyson says.

And that means there is plenty of space to build a big house. But you had better check that your bank balance is healthy before you fork out for one of the plots. "The very cheapest you could buy and build would probably be $3.5m," says Mr Dyson.

If you like the look of the peninsula, but do not quite have the wherewithal to buy the plot and build on it there is hope yet: a number of apartments at the entrance to the peninsula are available for a relative steal at $600,000 to $800,000. And economic citizenship is even thrown in as part of the deal.